There are secrets in the sleepy town of Majic, where the past trips over the present ... and then looks the other way.

The country town of Majic is about to celebrate a milestone. It's been 150 years since the founding father, Petar Majic, rode into the bush after a liquid lunch, vowing to build a house at whatever spot he reached by sunset. However, what happened next isn't quite what town legend would have you believe. A minor act of cemetery vandalism lands local columnist and amateur detective Nell Forrest right in the path of historical inevitability. An apparent murder-suicide leads to the unveiling of a century-old scandal and a trail left by a trio of long-dead women.

Nell's investigations are hampered both by the arrival of the handsome district detective and by her family. With directionless daughters, unplanned pregnancies, a spot or two of adultery and an ex-husband who wants her house, Nell barely has time for the case, let alone the energy to keep her wits about her. And Nell will need her wits as the mystery of Majic begins casting its shadow, putting Nell and her family in grave danger. In the end, Nell must decide whether it is a tale of epic fortitude, or treachery and ill-gotten gains, before the past catches up with her.

Ill-Gotten Gains is the second book in Ilsa Evans' Nell Forrest Mystery series. Nefarious Doings is the first.

Product description

Product Description

There are secrets in the sleepy town of Majic, where the past trips over the present ... and then looks the other way.

The country town of Majic is about to celebrate a milestone. It's been 150 years since the founding father, Petar Majic, rode into the bush after a liquid lunch, vowing to build a house at whatever spot he reached by sunset. However, what happened next isn't quite what town legend would have you believe. A minor act of cemetery vandalism lands local columnist and amateur detective Nell Forrest right in the path of historical inevitability. An apparent murder-suicide leads to the unveiling of a century-old scandal and a trail left by a trio of long-dead women.

Nell's investigations are hampered both by the arrival of the handsome district detective and by her family. With directionless daughters, unplanned pregnancies, a spot or two of adultery and an ex-husband who wants her house, Nell barely has time for the case, let alone the energy to keep her wits about her. And Nell will need her wits as the mystery of Majic begins casting its shadow, putting Nell and her family in grave danger. In the end, Nell must decide whether it is a tale of epic fortitude, or treachery and ill-gotten gains, before the past catches up with her.

Ill-Gotten Gains is the second book in Ilsa Evans' Nell Forrest Mystery series. Nefarious Doings is the first.

About the Author

Ilsa Evans was born in the Dandenongs, east of Melbourne, in 1960 and enjoyed a blissful childhood that has provided absolutely no material for writing purposes. Fortunately adulthood served her better in this regard. After spending time in an eclectic range of employment, from the military to health promotion to seaside libraries, she returned to tertiary studies and completed a doctorate on the long-term effects of domestic violence in 2005. She has now settled into an occasionally balanced blend of teaching, public speaking and writing and lives in a perpetually partially renovated house, not far from where she was born, that is held upright by a labyrinth of bookshelves.

Ilsa is the author of eleven books in a variety of genres, including three murder mysteries in the Nell Forrest Mystery series. She also contributes to several newspapers and online journals on social issues and won the Eliminating Violence Against Women (EVA) Award for online journalism in 2011.

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Just discovered Ilsa Evans and have devoured the first 2 novels in her Nell Forrest series. In fact, the first thing I did when I finished the first one was to order the second one on my Kindle. Evans is a new voice in the crime fiction scene and her cast of characters is quirky and unique. Set in the fictitious Victorian town of Majic, the murder mysteries have a small-town feel - everyone knows everyone else and everyone is a suspect. I love Evan's sense of humour and the dry wit of her protagonist, Nell, as she faces pregnant daughters, a dodgy ex-husband, a cranky mother, and experiments with dating.

I so enjoyed the first Nell Forest Mystery, Nefarious Doings that I was delighted to be able to move on so quickly to the second, Ill-Gotten Gains.

Picking up just a few months after the end of Nefarious Doings, the town of Majic is about to celebrate its 150th anniversary when Nell’s youngest daughter, Quinn, uncovers a surprising anomaly at the crypt of the town founder. Nell dutifully shares the information with the local Historical Society unaware that the discovery will rewrite the history of the town and make her the target of a killer desperate to keep the past a secret.

I think the plot is stronger in Ill-Gotten Gains (than in Nefarious Doings), the mystery is less predictable and, just when you think you might have figured it all out, it twists nicely. Evan’s teases out the secret, which stretches back into the town’s history, without compromising the drama of present. The tension is also more immediate with Nell targeted by the killer, leading to a spectacular confrontation at the height of the town’s celebrations.

As with the first book, I adored the characters, I’d love to share a coffee with Nell (even though I can’t stand the stuff). I love the little asides shared from her column, ‘Middle Age Spread’, and her sense of humour makes me laugh. Nell’s familial relationships are so realistically drawn, I can empathise with the chaos her daughters introduce into her life and the love, and concern, she feels for all of them.The supporting characters within the community of Majic are part of the appeal of the series, often quirky, sometimes completely insane, they add colour to the story. I’ve mentioned it previously but look out for Grace June Rae, a character I won naming rights to.Oh and the dashing Detective Sergeant Ashley Armistead returns to charm Nell in Ill-Gotten Gains, even while he despairs of her habit of finding dead bodies and attracting trouble.

Ill-Gotten Gains is a delightful blend of mystery, humour and domestic drama with a touch of romance. I adore this new cosy mystery series – Ilsa, you can expect I’ll be harassing you on Words With Friends until the next installment is in my hands!

Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com

Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
19 reviews

Brenda Telford

5.0 out of 5 starsLoved it!

22 March 2015 - Published on Amazon.com

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

With the 150 year celebrations looming, Nell Forrest was accompanying her youngest daughter Quinn to the cemetery of Majic to research the town’s founder, Petar Majic – her latest school assignment was one Quinn wanted to excel in. But when Quinn disturbed Petar’s headstone, much to Nell’s horror, it started a chain of events which left the town shattered and Nell’s amateur detective status on dangerous ground.

Nell was a recently single mother to five daughters; Scarlet, Lucy, Ruby, Red and Quinn. Her husband - soon to be ex – was the bane of her existence and she tried not to think about him. But the preparations, investigations and all historical researching involved members of a family deeply entrenched in Majic’s history. When tragedy struck, not once but twice with Detective Sergeant Ashley Armistead as senior in the investigation, Nell realized she still had feelings for the handsome detective.

Could Nell solve the mystery from the past which had overshadowed the present? Would the highly anticipated celebrations take place or would the disgrace of secrets from the past outweigh it all? And would the danger that Nell’s family was in abate without injury to anyone?

I thoroughly enjoyed Ill-Gotten Gains which is the second in the Nell Forrest series by Aussie author Ilsa Evans. Nell is a wonderful character – so natural and down to earth; funny too! Quote: on ringing daughters regarding a family meeting – “Apologies would be accepted, however efforts to attend would be reflected in the quality and quantity of individual Christmas presents later this year”. 35%

I have no hesitation in highly recommending this series and hope to get to book #3 sooner rather than later.

I've enjoyed the three Nell Forrest books a great deal, though I have gone through them out of sequence. Ms. Evans (and her heroine, Nell) has a wicked sense of humor, which she displays by breaking through the fourth wall in a series of insertions. One heads each chapter and purports to be a response to a blog Nell maintains in a local newspaper. The others are asides in the form of ersatz headlines she plants in the narrative to reflect Nell's feelings about certain plot developments, e.g., "Dead woman found in arcade; nice hat." My only carp is that her important characters are nearly all female, with well-defined personalities and quirks, while her males tend to be blurry. One misses the rasp of whiskers. This doesn't seem to be deliberate feminism; I think she may simply have grown up surrounded by women. Anyhow, this doesn't detract from her plots, which can get very dark indeed. In this one, her little town of Majic is about to celebrate its 150th birthday when the picturesque story about its founding is found to be highly misleading. Nell uses her detective skills to help untangle matters and nearly gets killed.

ILL-GOTTEN GAINS is the sequel to Nefarious Doings that I read, and loved, last month. I love Nell, I can so relate to her on many, many levels. For me, she is a character that is so believable that I felt I could knock on the door and have a cuppa and gossip with no problems. Various aspects of Nell's daughters are each based on one of my daughters I am sure. Or are all teens like this? Maybe a bit of both! When Nell and her daughter make an important discovery about the town's founding father she tells the head of the historical society, that night he rings her in a state of excitement wanting to see Nell in person to tell her his great discovery. The next morning Nell finds him dead in his office - with the door locked from the inside. Shortly after there is an attempt on Nell's life so things become serious for her. Trouble is her life is a bit complicated right now, daughters doing their own thing; various surprise pregnancies; an ex who is insisting she sells the family home and then the gorgeous Detective Sergeant Ashley Armistead turns up to investigate the murder, Nell is not sure what to tackle first.

ILL-GOTTEN GAINS is very well written with a good mystery that has you suspecting everyone at one stage or another. The book is full of believable but quirky characters complete with a `normal' family that the story is built around. As with the first book, each chapter starts with a funny response to one of Nell's column articles which adds to the overall humour of the book. Readers will laugh as they get drawn into the tale as they try alongside Nell to discover just who the murderer is. All is revealed in a heart stopping finale when Majic's 150th birthday celebrations swing into action and the town is choc a bloc with people. I do hope there is book three not too far away as I would love to spend more time in Majic.

This book was just as delightful as the first Nell Forrest book - Nefarious Doings. Though this book easily stands on its own, I highly recommend you read the first Nell Forrest book before this one for the obvious reasons in that it makes this book a more fulfilling read because you've already met the characters and have some history with them. I have read a lot of "first in a series" books since I got my Kindle a year ago and though I enjoy most of them, I am seldom compelled to buy another book in the series. In this case, I couldn't wait to plunk down my hard-earned cash! Anyway, the plot in this book is very good, not too easy but not too hard ... like Goldilocks bed - haha. The writing is superb with nary an editing error (how refreshing is that!), and as I said in my review of Nefarious Doings, I love Ms. Evans' writing style. It is very crisp, very intelligent, and HIGHLY entertaining - clever and witty. I recommend this book very much.

I'm desperately waiting for the next instalment of this excellent series. Nell and her family and her adventures have me hooked and I wish the author could write these as quickly as I've read them.

If you are reading these reviews and wondering whether or not to try them please download the sample. Like the rest of us you will quickly find yourself drawn into this funny, lovable and recognisable family.